This invention relates generally to locking or stabilizing mechanisms and, more particularly, to an apparatus for temporarily locking or stabilizing a device such as a pedal assembly or the like with respect to a floor.
Devices that require a non-permanent floor mounted, foot-actuated interface are prone to unintended movement relative to the operator, thereby interfering with the proper operation of the device. Due to the temporary nature of the floor mounting mechanism, the stability of the device is typically poor. This is problematic for an input device such as a gaming pedal 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1. For instance, the lateral or horizontal force component (Fah) of the force Fa (with vertical component Fav) exerted on the pedal 12 by the operator's foot may be larger than the resisting forces (Frh) of the device 10 as provided by the mounting component such as one or more rubber mounting feet 14. This causes the input device 10 to move away from the user, requiring frequent replacement of the device relative to the user's foot and thus loss of control and satisfactory game play.
One difficulty is that these foot-operated devices should be made to function on a variety of different floor surfaces, including carpets that are thick, thin, dense, or loose; and non-carpeted surfaces such as wood, tile, and linoleum surfaces. The use of small rubber feet at the bottom of the foot-operated device cannot resist movement on carpet, and generally cannot adequately resist movement on non-carpeted floor surfaces due to the small surface areas of contact between the rubber feet and the floor surface. A fixed set of ribs or teeth at the bottom of the foot-operated device would provide some retention on a carpet. As the horizontal force increases, however, the ribs or teeth do not further embed themselves and slipping and tearing of the carpet can occur. In addition, the rubber feet would need to be removed for carpet use; otherwise, the rubber feet would cause the teeth to not engage due to the need to avoid interference between the bottom case of the device and the floor if the rubber feet were to function properly.